Chiles Rellenos a la Sam

I improvised on some recipes that I had looked up. We went to some Mexican place that stuffed their peppers with ground beef and cheese...MMM!!
On the way back from Salisbury last week, there were red, yellow, and green banana peppers that looked delicious!! I think most recipes call for poblano chilis (maybe?) but you could use any pepper in my opinion.

Broil your peppers/chilis until the skins begin to blacken, flip over and repeat.
Place in a bowl or bag (as long as it's covered tightly) for ~5-10 minutes, or until you can handle them bare-handed. (Don't let them cool off entirely, though, or you won't be able to peel the skins off). Peel the skins off, cut off the tops, and slit them open to remove the seeds and gross white part (not really that gross, but I forget what it's called right now...)
Place them in a casserole dish.

For the stuffing:
I happened to have 2 hamburgers leftover that I chopped up in my Cuisinart along with some cooked onions and garlic. Otherwise, I would have just cooked the ground beef with said garlic and onion, and throw in some chili powder, cumin, and coriander to taste. Drain off excess grease. I shredded an entire block of monterey jack cheese, and mixed it in with the beef. Spoon this mixture into the open chilis/peppers, then try the best you can to wrap them "shut". Pour Old El Paso Enchilada sauce (I tried to look up how to make enchilada sauce, but honest-to-god, even recipes from Gourmet magazine call for a "can of enchilada sauce"...) on top, as much as you like (I of course, like it SAUCY!!) then top with cheddar cheese. There is no such thing as too much cheese in my book.

I also made beans to go along with this--i sauteed extra onions and garlic, threw in a (rinsed) can of black beans, same spices, and some chicken stock that I had made from smoked chicken (nice smoky flavor!) and cooked til the beans were the consistncy I like. Then more cheese ;) in that pot.

Lastly, I will share with you the corn bread recipe (I'd made this the day before in anticipation--compliments of my mom):

Corn Bread Cohen

1/4 C. yellow cornmeal
3/4 C. flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
pinch cayenne
1 tsp. honey
2 lg. eggs, beaten
1/2 stick butter, melted & cooled
3/4 c milk
1/2 c sour cream
1/3 c grated cheddar
1 1/4 c fresh (I used 1/4 c accidentally, and frozen) corn

Butter a 11 1/2 x 7 1/2" baking dish. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne. In a larger bowl, combine honey, eggs, butter, milk & sour cream. Add flour mixture, whisking til combined well. Fold in cheese and corn. Spread batter in pan and bake in middle of 400 degree oven 25-30 minutes. delish!!